SACSCOC Reaffirmation and the Quality Enhancement Plan

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is a private, nonprofit, voluntary organization founded in 1895 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Association accredits higher education degree-granting institutions.

The SACSCOC bases its accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions and entities on requirements in the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement. These requirements apply to all institutional programs and services, wherever located or however delivered. SACSCOC applies the requirements of its Principles to all applicant, candidate, and member institutions, regardless of the type of institution: private for-profit, private not-for-profit, or public.

The University of Mary Washington was first accredited in 1930, and its accreditation was last reaffirmed in 2013. The reaffirmation of accreditation review involved compilation of two separate documents: a Compliance Certification and a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).

UMW’s next review by SACSCOC will be the Fifth-Year Year Interim Report, due in 2019 (the process is described in detail here). The next reaffirmation would occur in 2023, with all materials submitted in September 2021 and reviewed from that point through 2022.

The Commission evaluates an institution and makes reaffirmation decisions based on the following:

Compliance with the Principle of Integrity (Section 1)

Compliance with the Core Requirements (Section 2)

Compliance with the Comprehensive Standards (Section 3)

Compliance with additional Federal Requirements (Section 4)

Compliance with the policies of the Commission on Colleges (See the Commission’s website for information about policies and suggested good practices.)